NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont University men's tennis team christened the brand new Belmont Tennis Complex with a 4-3 win in the storied Battle of the Boulevard series on Tuesday afternoon.
Belmont's six straight wins as a team marked the second straight season where the Bruins have collected a winning streak of at least six or more matches. Senior Marko Ilic claimed his fifth singles win of the season, officially tying Willy Sandoval (1998-2002) for ninth in program history with 50 career singles wins. He needs just one more to move in a tie for eighth with Javier Rodriguez (2004-09).
Freshman Diego Castro picked up his fifth win of the season while junior Arthur Toledo remained unbeaten in singles play, collecting a 6-0 mark on the season. Freshman Tomas Luis picked up his fourth win of the season, with his match being the clincher thanks to a 7-6 (7) win in the final set.
In doubles action, senior Taisei Miyamoto and Ilic cruised to the victory at the No. 1 slot, 6-2. Ilic/Miyamoto picked up their sixth win in doubles to move to a 6-1 mark.
Belmont picked up the first two singles points, thanks to wins from Castro and Toledo. Castro won in two straight sets, 6-1, 6-3, over Gonzalo Garcia-Nieto to hand the Bruins the first point as Toledo went into tiebreakers to hold off Pedro Uribe, 6-4, 7-6 (3) for the second point.
Ilic was the next Bruin to emerge victorious, winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, to put the Bruins ahead, 3-1.
The Bisons rallied to pick up points, collecting two consecutive points thanks to wins in the No. 6 and No. 4 slots. With Luis and Lipscomb's Maksim Bogdanovich splitting a pair of games 7-5 each, the last set was forced into a tiebreaker. Luis, however, claimed the singles win and helped Belmont secure the season sweep of the Battle of the Boulevard.
Belmont (6-1) returns to action on Friday, opening up Ohio Valley Conference play at the Belmont Tennis Complex against Tennessee Tech at 1 p.m. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, fan attendance at Belmont home tennis matches will be restricted to a small number of family members of the Belmont tennis team players.
Belmont 4, Lipscomb 3
Doubles
1. Ilic/Miyamoto (BEL) def. Ortegon/Uribe (LIP), 6-2
2. Cafferena/Bogdanovich (LIP) def. Castro/Luis (BEL), 6-3
3. Penny/Garcia-Nieto (LIP) def. Briggs/Toledo (BEL), 6-2
Singles
1. Ilic (BEL) def. Cafferena (LIP) - 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
2. Toledo (BEL) def. Ortegon (LIP) - 6-4, 7-6 (3)
3. Luis (BEL) def. Bogdanovich (LIP) - 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7)
4. Uribe (LIP) def. Miyamoto (BEL) - 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
5. Castro (BEL) def. Garcia-Nieto (LIP) - 6-1, 6-3
6. Salas Tulla (LIP) def. Wallin (BEL) - 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
